The present invention relates to hair styling devices, and particularly to hair styling irons, including but not limited to curling irons.
Conventional curling irons used by consumers and professional stylists employ an unheated clamp against a heated barrel. The barrel and clamp are typically curved to create gradual, radiused curls in the hair. Hair caught by the clamp and pressed against the barrel is styled as desired by the user or stylist. Often a rotating or twisting motion is used to obtain the desired look. When straightening of hair is desired, it has been necessary to employ a separate utensil, known as a flat iron or straightening iron, employing at least one heated surface. A main difference between curling irons and straightening irons is that the latter employ flat surfaces and relatively straight edges for clamping the hair and applying heat so that natural or artificially induced curls are relaxed and/or removed.
A drawback of conventional straightening irons is that they typically include a pair of arms which are pivotally joined or hinged at or near one common end, and are spring-loaded to the open position. In that respect, they resemble cooking tongs. Thus, a user must grip the two arms at the pivot end, and exert a force to close the arms about the hair to be straightened.
For professional hair stylists working for long periods, the force required to both grip the iron and exert the requisite clamping force can be fatiguing. Also, since the arms are pivoted at the far end of the unit opposite the heated end, it is often difficult to properly control the iron to obtain the desired results.
In some cases, it has been difficult, using conventional curling irons, to obtain gentle flips or waves at the hair ends. In other cases, it has been difficult to both straighten and provide gradual flips or waves with the same iron.
Thus, there is a need for a hair styling tool combining the features of a curling iron and a straightening iron, and which addresses the needs of stylists to exert more control over the irons for improved styling control. Furthermore, there is a need for a hair styling iron which does not require the gripping effort of conventional tong-like irons.